Wildfire warning issued for Las Vegas area

By Dave Toplikar

Saturday, May 28, 2011 | 6:29 a.m.

Keep both hands on the wheel and be careful with any outdoor fires today. Skies will be mostly sunny and temperatures will reach the low 90s, but winds will be gusty today throughout the region as the Memorial Day holiday weekend gets under way.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Lake Mead area and a wind advisory today for the Las Vegas Valley and much of southern Nevada.

An approaching storm system will generate gusty southwest to west winds across the Mojave Desert today, the weather service said. The gusty winds, combined with humidity levels below 15 percent will create critical conditions for wildfires to spark and spread, forecasters said.

The Red Flag Warning remains in effect from noon to 8 p.m. in an area that includes the Lake Mead National Recreation area and the Colorado River Valley. Winds are expected to be from the southwest from 20 to 30 mph, with gusts of 35 to 50 mph.

The wind advisory will be in effect from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday for the Lake Mead National Recreation area, the eastern Mohave Desert, Morongo and Cadiz basins, the Spring Mountains, Red Rock Canyon, the Las Vegas Valley and southern Clark County.

Winds will be southwest to west of 20 to 35 mph, with gusts of 40 to 50 mph. Local gusts up to 55 mph are possible in the Morongo Basin, forecasters said.

The gusty winds will create crosswinds and make for difficult driving conditions, especially on Interstate 15 from near Baker to Las Vegas as well as Interstate 40 in central San Bernardino County and U.S. Highway 95 from Las Vegas south toward the California-Nevada border, the weather service said.

Choppy to rough waters are expected on area lakes, including lakes Mead and Mohave, creating hazardous conditions for boats and personal watercraft, forecasters said.

There is also the possibility of blowing sand and dust that could reduce visibility near and downwind of dry lake beds, they said.

Along with gusty winds, the strong Pacific storm will produce scattered showers and thunderstorms mainly over the southern Sierra and the central Nevada mountains late today and Sunday, forecasters said.

Much cooler temperatures are expected on Sunday, about 15 to 20 degrees cooler than today, but temperatures will begin to warm on Memorial Day up to near 80 degrees, they said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 69 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 67 degrees. The record low was 50 degrees, set in 1971, 1964 and 1946.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 68 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 70 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 67 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 77 degrees by 9 a.m., to 85 degrees by noon and reach a high of 91 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 92 degrees and the record high was 109 degrees, set in 2003.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 90 degrees by 6 p.m., to 82 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 74 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Sunday's morning low will be 63 degrees and Sunday's high will climb to 70 degrees, they said.